Bank Maryland Corp., the Towson-based bank holding company, today reported a loss of $165,000, or 8 cents a share, in the first quarter compared to a loss of $132,000, or 6 cents a share, in the 1990 first quarter.

Chairman H.F. "Bert" Criste, said the loss resulted from a $37,000 provision for loan-loss reserves for non-performing loans and some "fallout" from the company's consolidation of its operations last year. The banking industry in general has been hurt by poor commercial real estate loans.

Bank Maryland, the parent of the Bank of Maryland, has not had a profitable year since it was formed in January 1987. Bank of Maryland, which has 13 branches across the state, has primarily catered to small businesses.

In comments to stockholders at the company's annual meeting today, Criste said the bank would be working toward profitability this year. "We will beaggressively gathering deposits, making quality loans and watching our expenses," he said.

"The whole drive will be for profits and improvement of shareholders' value," Criste said to reporters after the brief meeting.

At the end of the first quarter, Bank Maryland had total assets of $210.7 million, a drop of 11.7 percent from a year ago when assets were $238.6 million. Deposits also dropped by 6 percent from $200.2 million to $188.2 million.

The company's loan-loss reserve at the end of March was $3.8 million, or 2.5 percent of the bank's loan portfolio. The company is searching for a new chief executive officer and president after E. Neil Jacobs resigned from that post in early March. Criste, who is the acting chief executive officer and president, said the bank does not have a set deadline for hiring a replacement. "We're trying to be very careful," he said.

However, with the large number of terminations in the ranks of banking executives, Bank Maryland does not have a lack of job seekers. As a result of only the news reports of Jacobs' departure, the bank has received 25 applications, Criste said. "It's shocking," he said.